Naples council kicks in $80,000 for creek work

Naples City Council on Wednesday balked at paying more than $201,000 toward Collier County’s Haldeman Creek Restoration Project but agreed to provide $80,000 to dredge the city’s portion to help boaters navigate the creek’s shallow waters.

The vote came after heated discussions that began at Monday’s council workshop, where members debated whether it was a dredging project and were assured by County Commissioner Fred Coyle it was a stormwater project. Coyle pointed to $500,000 in stormwater funds from the South Florida Water Management District and a similar amount expected from the Big Cypress Basin Board, an outgrowth of the water management district. The remaining $1.6 million would come from county ad valorem taxes.

“I think it should be a little lower,” Coyle said Monday, when asked by Vice Mayor Johnny Nocera whether the $201,423.63 the county requested was fair. “I will fight for as low a price as I possibly can.”

Coyle urged council to contribute some amount so the project could begin later this month. “I think a willingness to participate in this project will strengthen my hand dramatically,” he said of speaking with county commissioners.

The debate underscored the often tenuous relationship between council and the County Commission, with some council members contending the city was being taxed twice. They agreed it was a stormwater project, while the only issue with the city’s portion was navigational. After the 4-3 vote — with councilmen William MacIlvaine, Gary Price and Bill Willkomm voting no — Councilman John Sorey called the controversy unfortunate.

“There’s no reason they shouldn’t have paid for that portion of the project,” Sorey said of the county. “Instead, they played hardball and got every dollar they could get from us. All that’s going to do is continue adversely affecting our relationship.”

Haldeman Creek, which reaches under Bayshore Drive in East Naples, empties into Naples Bay south of Royal Harbor. City officials estimate only 11 to 14 city residents along the creek area would be affected, although the creek is used heavily by others. County officials are anxious to dredge the creek because it’s been a problem for nearly 10 years. Over the years, sediment from construction projects and decomposing vegetation have caked layers of waste in the stream, making it impossible for some boats to navigate the waterway. County officials have said that once the project is finished, they’ll speak with Haldeman Creek area residents about creating a municipal services taxing district to pay for future maintenance.

In April, county Transportation Division Administrator Norman Feder sent a letter to City Manager Bob Lee, asking Naples to contribute $201,423.63 to dredge the area within city limits, from the city’s border at the end of Sandpiper Street, west into the mouth of Naples Bay. Dredging farther isn’t required, officials say, because the creek is deep enough.

Feder said it will improve boater navigation and access and enhance water quality and flow. In a May 5 letter, Lee told Feder that Naples already contributed $320,000 because it pays 20 percent of the ad valorem taxes. On Wednesday, Lee reminded council that Naples has special taxing districts that pay for dredging projects, but doesn’t have one for Haldeman Creek.

“The concern is the message we’d be telling the other property owners,” Lee told council Wednesday. “They’ve been specially assessed, while those on Haldeman Creek are not.”

Lee also noted that Naples’ budget can’t cover the project, so funds would have to come from elsewhere.

The creek contains contaminated soil — arsenic from pilings and treated woods and copper from boats — that would be removed, county Stormwater Management Director Eugene Calvert told council. However, he said, testing showed no contamination within the city limits.

Mayor Bill Barnett questioned what would occur if the city didn’t contribute. Sorey said he’d spoken with the basin board and was told it wouldn’t affect the project, but Mike Bauer, Naples’ natural resources manager, said not moving forward could cause problems.

“The benefits to the city are strictly navigational,” Bauer said, noting that if dredging doesn’t occur on the city’s portion, it would negatively affect the flow.

But MacIlvaine said his sailboat doesn’t have problems navigating the creek as long as he boats during high tide. “As far as I’m concerned, as a boater, I’m not worried about dredging the mouth of Haldeman Creek,” he said.

His views differed from residents. Don Wirth, a Tarpon Road homeowner and the city’s former Community Services director, agreed boaters must be careful during low to mid-tide and urged council to contribute because silt will build up at the double-S curve if dredging ends at Sandpiper Road. “The irony is, the other county residents upstream will suffer more than anyone else,” he told council Monday.

Terry Forshier, a Royal Harbor resident, contended inaction on 20 percent of the creek would cause problems. “Right now is a golden opportunity,” he told council Monday. “I realize this is a lot of money, but in the scope of things, it really isn’t.”

If Naples doesn’t contribute, he said, silt would build up. “It’s going to go into that back bay and you’re going to have a bump there,” he said. “So not only will it not help that area, it will increase the problem ... as it flows out to the bay. Now, if the project gets completed, it only seems logical that the silt will go out, disperse, get caught in the tide and get carried along with all the other silt — out into the Gulf of Mexico. That’s what they wanted. If they wanted an 80 percent project, they would have designed it that way.”

City watchdog Henry Kennedy urged council on Wednesday to spend the money. “If you look at who’s using it, you’re looking at a major waterway,” he said. “Up Haldeman Creek is the only working marina on the bay. It’s used by everyone.”

After much debate, council voted to fund only $80,000 after Sorey suggested a reduced amount and council supporters agreed it would help boaters. “I don’t like to be stuck up with a gun to my head,” Barnett said after the vote, adding that he hoped county commissioners were listening on TV or by computer. “It’s not quid pro quo.”